Next Level University

Everything Matters But Not The Same Amount (1951)

• Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 41:11

In today’s episode, Kevin and Alan explore how self-awareness and focused effort can transform your results. Discover why identifying your top priorities can simplify your journey to success and lead to exponential growth. From fitness and brain health to relationships and business, they share personal lessons, practical tips, and the science behind prioritization to inspire your breakthroughs.

Links mentioned:
Free 30-minute Coaching Call with Alan - https://bit.ly/4f3MSUz
Next Level Dreamliner: https://a.co/d/9fPpxEt
Subscribe & follow -  https://www.buzzsprout.com/742955/share
Next Level Nation - https://www.facebook.com/groups/459320958216700

_____________________

NLU is not just a podcast; it’s a gateway to a wealth of resources designed to help you achieve your goals and dreams. From our Next Level Dreamliner to our Group Coaching, we offer a variety of tools and communities to support your personal development journey.

For more information, please check out our website at the link below. 👇

Website 💻  http://www.nextleveluniverse.com

_______________________

Any of these communities or resources are FREE to join and consume
Next Level Nation - https://www.facebook.com/groups/459320958216700
Next Level 5 To Thrive (free course) - ​​https://bit.ly/3xffver
Next Level U Book Club - https://bit.ly/3BQBYDr
Next Level Monthly Meet-up:  https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/monthly-meetups/

_______________________

We love connecting with you guys! Reach out on Instagram, Facebook, or via email. We’re here to support you in your personal and professional development journey.

Instagram 📷
Kevin: https://www.instagram.com/neverquitkid/
Alan: https://www.instagram.com/alazaros88/

Facebook ✍
Alan: https://www.facebook.com/alan.lazaros
Kevin: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.palmieri.90/

Email 💬
Kevin@nextleveluniverse.com
Alan@nextleveluniverse.com

LinkedIn ✍
Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-palmieri-5b7736160/
Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanlazarosllc/

_______________________

Show notes:
(3:30) Why self-awareness matters most
(5:53) Fitness, focus, and the Pareto principle
(7:25) Breaking goals into clear priorities
(12:10) The key to brain health and sleep
(21:11) At NLU, we want you to win! So, we’re giving tools and resources to ensure your success. Join our Monthly Meet-up every first Thursday of the month at 5 PM.
(23:17) Emphasizing relationships and quality time
(28:04) Using clarity to create leve

Send a text to Kevin and Alan!

🎙️ Hosted by Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros

Next Level University is a top-ranked daily podcast for dream chasers and self-improvement lovers. With over 2,100 episodes, we help you level up in life, love, health, and wealth one day at a time. Subscribe for real, honest, no-fluff growth every single day.

Kevin Palmieri

I just tried a bunch of stuff. I was on bodybuilding forums all the time trying to figure out how to learn about bodybuilding and how to get stronger, and then it eventually became this is what works best for me. And I still train essentially the same exact way I did when I was 16. Smarter, but I do a lot of the same. Like I don't overcomplicate it. I do the same shit almost every time.

Alan Lazaros

that works for me I I want to have the most meaningful life possible and I think the more narrow you get in your where you invest your time and effort I think, the bigger impact you can actually have. It's fascinating, it's it's when you split the atom you get the atom bomb. That metaphor the more narrow my focus has become, the more impact I've been able to have in the world.

Kevin Palmieri

Welcome to Next Level University. I'm your host, Kevin Palmieri. And I'm your co-host Alan Lazarus At NLU. We believe in a heart-driven but no BS approach to holistic self-improvement for dream chasers.

Alan Lazaros

Our goal with every episode is to help you level up your life, love, health and wealth.

Kevin Palmieri

We bring you a new episode every single day on topics like confidence, self-belief, self-worth, self-awareness, relationships, boundaries, consistency, habits and defining your own unique version of success.

Alan Lazaros

Self-improvement in your pocket, every day, from anywhere, completely free.

Kevin Palmieri

Welcome to Next Level University, next Level Nation. Welcome back to another episode of Next Level University, where we help you level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth. Today, for episode number 1,951, everything matters, but not the same amount. Another long sleeve today. Kev Back-to-back days with a long sleeve. Shout-out to my mother-in-law. Shout-out to Taryn's mom she got me this for Christmas.

Alan Lazaros

Local company. Is that a Burton?

Kevin Palmieri

What is it? Oh, brunt, it's called Brunt Brunt Local company.

Kevin Palmieri

Very cool, I dig it. So, before this, alan said hey, is there a question that we could ask that would make for a really good episode? He ask that would make for a really good episode. You're the creative guy. Make a question, come up with a question. Let me think for a second. See what I can come up with. The question guy man. I'm supposedly the question guy and this is the question that I thought of, and it was a terrible question, but I'm going to say it the way I said it, and then we'll make sure we clarify what's the one thing that, without it, you would lose the vast majority of your results? Slash, what's the one thing that is most responsible for the results you have In your life, in your business, in your relationship, whatever. Whatever it is, it could be anything. My answer is simple it's boring. It's not going to be a surprise. Do you want to guess what it is?

Alan Lazaros

This podcast and oh, whoa, it's not this podcast, no no, I'm not.

The Importance of Self-Awareness

Kevin Palmieri

Look, one of the things that I've been called is humble. Last thing I can say is I can't put, I can't put. You know, I can't do that. No, no, not this podcast. This podcast blows. I'm kidding, this is my favorite podcast in the world. Yeah, it is. It is really good.

Alan Lazaros

I'm kidding, this is my favorite podcast in the world. Yeah, it is. It is really good.

Kevin Palmieri

That's not it, though.

Alan Lazaros

Wrong, All right, what is it? Self-awareness? Oh nice yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

Like you didn't know that, I'm like a broken record.

Alan Lazaros

Well, there's categories. Self-awareness is a principle, it's a person's place of things and ideas.

Kevin Palmieri

You told me to come up with a question. I may answer the question as I wish, as you may answer the question as you wish. Self-awareness, that is my answer Strong work.

Alan Lazaros

Wouldn't you say that this podcast, more than anything else, has increased your self-awareness?

Kevin Palmieri

Well, yes, but my self-awareness didn't start with the podcast, where did it start man, I think it just started from a place of curiosity and again, before I had the, remember I did a video on Facebook in 2016 or whatever it was. You don't deserve to be happy. You deserve what you work for. That was me working on self-awareness. That was me working on philosophy, so that existed before the podcast. I just didn't have a vehicle for it yet. I think I would say the more self-aware I've become, the better my life has gotten, and without that, I don't none of this would happen.

Alan Lazaros

Self-awareness is the principle. The vehicle for that, more than anything else, has been the podcast. I would say that yes, and I do think you need so. For example, learning, that's high level. My answer could be learning, but that's very broad. Okay, well, what's the biggest source of learning? So this question you can go deeper, deeper, deeper, zoom in, zoom in, zoom in Microscope, telescope.

Alan Lazaros

So the question is I'm going to rephrase the question to what my brain says. Let's see how it goes. All right, my brain says what's the one variable in the equation that if you took it out, it takes away 90% of the results?

Kevin Palmieri

Not terrible Okay.

Alan Lazaros

The one thing that if you took out of the formula, if you took it out of the formula, gets rid of 90% of the results. Yeah, are you stalling? You have an answer. Well, I want to categorize it.

Kevin Palmieri

Okay.

Breaking goals into clear priorities

Alan Lazaros

Okay. In fitness, the answer is weight training. In growth personal growth the answer is the mission. I used to say this quote and I struggle to say it now because I think it's probably sounding dumb. But whenever people come to me and they say I don't understand, like how did you, how did you, how do you do all this? And and the people who do that are other podcasters Other podcasters look at what we do and they go like how, how do you? It's usually after or before. It's like how do you do all this? Like how do you not burn out with all this stuff you're doing NLU, pgu, bgu, all this BGU we're still doing, but how do you not burn out? And I say a lot of the results that we've achieved are actually a byproduct of something far bigger that no one else can see. And this is going to be very courageous for me, because I don't know if I like sharing this, but on my desktop background it says to build the most successful holistic, self-improvement company in history. That's the mission statement, that's the infinite game, that the mountain that gets higher as you climb it. And that's what we're doing. We're trying to build and I think about this all the time I build.

Alan Lazaros

I wake up in the morning and I think, okay, build the self, build the family, build the business. Build the self, build the family, build the business Okay. Zoom in to build the self. Okay, fitness, and then zoom into fitness, sleep, hydration, nutrition, training, mobility, breathwork, supplementation Okay, zoom back out. Build the self.

Alan Lazaros

Personal development Okay. Books, Build the self. Okay, therapy. Okay. Now zoom back out. Build the family, Amy and I's relationship Okay, what about that? Courageous, vulnerable conversations, quality time, adventures, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Now zoom back out. Build the business. Okay. Build the team Amy, nicole, laura, ron blah, blah, blah, blah, okay. And if there's anyone I forgot, I apologize, I didn't forget anyone, I just only said four people. And then you zoom back out and it's build the self, build the family, build the business. That's how my brain works. It's everything's a formula within a formula, within a formula, within a formula within a formula, and there's very little things under each of those categories that actually move the needle in a big way, and the podcast is underneath build the business, and it's one of the most important leverage points within build the business, and I I think that that engineering way of thinking is really important, but I don't know if that's normal no, I'm so, I'm so curious, like what you ever seen the movie.

Kevin Palmieri

There's a bunch of them. Oh, we'll say Freaky Friday, because the other one's not as Not as.

Alan Lazaros

What a silly movie.

Kevin Palmieri

They're doing a new one Are they? Yeah, jamie McHudson.

Alan Lazaros

That came out in like early 2000s or something.

Kevin Palmieri

Lindsay Lohan they're doing a reboot.

Alan Lazaros

Part 2. Part 2 I never saw the first one, but Of course.

Kevin Palmieri

Imagine, I just imagine, if you and I freaky friday and I woke up as you and you woke up as me, how strange it would be yeah, I've thought about that, not in the freaky friday sense, but in the what do you think? What is?

Alan Lazaros

it like to be him.

Kevin Palmieri

Sometimes the best, most often the worst depends, it's definitely, it's definitely different. I don't depends, it's definitely, it's definitely different. I don't. I tell. I say this all the time, I don't. I don't wake up and get pulled out of bed by the mission. That's not the way I'm wired. I'd be lying if I said that. I probably said that in the past because I thought that's what I was supposed to say. That's not the truth.

Kevin Palmieri

I push myself out of bed every morning and stumble into my mobility routine. That's pretty much what I do every day. It's not that I want to do it necessarily, but I'm always grateful I did and honestly, it's not that bad. Right Again, perspective, gratitude, reflection there's a lot of things that go into that. So, yeah, I just imagine what it's like for you, the first thing you think about when you wake up and the first thing I think about when I wake up. Oftentimes, the first thing I think about when I wake up, oftentimes the first thing I think about when I wake up, is what I'm going to have for dinner. That's pretty often, pretty often, especially when I'm dieting.

Alan Lazaros

Well, you can always whenever you sorry to interrupt you. Whenever you study someone, you observe them and you can tell what their circle of concern is. We talked about this in the last episode. What are you worried about? What are you concerned about? Uh, you think too much all that stuff. I can always tell what you're thinking about. Whenever I travel with kev, I can tell what his concerns are. Number one concern is what do we have to get done today and are we going to be on time? With alan's lazy ass I'm joking uh, are we going to be on time? How do I get Alan on time? I just looked at the camera and said it's true. How are we going to be on time and what do I need to do in advance to make sure we're on time? Number two is what are we eating for dinner?

Kevin Palmieri

Always.

Alan Lazaros

And number three is where are we going to the gym, baby? Where are we weight training? And that's really nice because I can just off-board that there. And that's really nice because I can just off-board that. There's something known as cognitive labor, and in the business of NLU I'm doing a lot of the cognitive labor and you playfully joke and say wherever Alan points or whatever, and again, we always talk and strategize together too. It's not just me, but look, let me share this. Emilia sent me her sleep score earlier today. What do we got? I'm going to guess 87. Nice, she sent me 91.

Kevin Palmieri

That's a good one, shout out, that's a good one NyQuil works wonders 91? It just seems so unattainable for the kid Dude. It's brutal.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, it's not easy. She is crushing Dude. She gets 90 kid. I'm just brutal. Yeah, it's not easy. She is crushing dude. She gets nineties. I bet you her average is 85 plus she does. She beats me in sleep. I was too late. Sleep, master man. At what point in my life?

The key to brain health and sleep

Kevin Palmieri

do I cross the chasm where it's like, kevin, it doesn't matter how much sleep you get, it's you've gone too far, there is no point.

Alan Lazaros

No, no no, there is no point. I got an 89. So what I said is brain health equals number one priority. So here's the problem with the word priority priority means the number one, most important thing. So, emily and I, we've thought a lot about our life and our future and I know how weird we are, so I'm just saying that. But we thought about it and we're like, okay, what's the most important thing? Well, you got to ask yourself the question. You can't know what the most important thing is until you take it away and see the devastation. If you take away someone's brain, they are dead. Like.

Alan Lazaros

The difference between and this is going to probably sound pretentious, and I'm saying this in advance the difference between me now and me 20 years old is my brain. Last night I had tons of dreams and I'm going to get my PhD in neuroscience one day and I hope to prove this in my thesis. I want it to be on this I'm convinced the reason why dreams are so fucked up is because it's the brain trying to restructure itself. Yesterday we had a really heavy day. I was struggle, bus, past, present, future, trauma, blah, blah, blah itself. Yesterday we had a really heavy day. I was struggle, bus, past, present, future trauma. I think last night my brain had to work through some shit to restructure itself. Neuro. The neuroscience shows chemical, functional and structural changes in the brain. When kevin and I first met, he couldn't hang in conversations like this nearly as long as he can. Now he would like shut down but isn't that?

Kevin Palmieri

what is that called? Is that called cognitive endurance? Like? Isn't there like a label for that?

Alan Lazaros

yeah, cognitive endurance, I think yeah, and we went to a meetup once and it was just a long day and I remember, I'll never forget we're in the hotel room and he just shut down. It was, it was over, nothing left. It was like full shutdown mode. It's like we cannot go any deeper. This is the end.

Alan Lazaros

Kill switch, kill switch comes out self-preservation yeah, turns, turns over, he's done, wakes up in the morning, drags out of bed. But, ultimately, what's the one thing that changes everything? It's a great question and I think it's brain health. Okay, well, now let's zoom into brain health. What's the most important thing for brain health? Sleep, okay, so, em, so, emilia and I, in 2025, our number one most important priority is getting great sleep. However, that's very challenging because when you run businesses, you obviously can't sleep 13 hours a day. You need to work, but that's why conflicting goals and conflicting priorities are such a challenge.

Alan Lazaros

If you have, if you really want, variety. So it's winter time. Emilia doesn't like the winter. We haven't been going on many adventures and I can tell it's getting to her and we're using little things, like she is wearing different clothing for her variety. She's trying to meet her need for variety in other ways different foods, different clothing, whatever we can do, and I can't wait for spring so we can actually start adventuring and fitness and hiking and adventure, racing and stuff. But my point of this whole thing is I hope everyone out there can start thinking about what is it that I value, what is it that I'm focused on and what are the things that I value that are in direct conflict, like if you value earning more money and yet you value adventure simultaneously. It's very hard to adventure while making money, and I think it's important to prioritize one over the other, in whichever season.

Kevin Palmieri

Well, yeah, it's like adventuring might be easy for you, making money might be somewhat easy for you, but, yeah, doing them at the same time is it's just there's a smaller circle of opportunity. It doesn't mean you can't do it. You and I have interviewed people that were nomads, that made that their job. It's possible, but possible and probable and the percentage of that are just different.

Alan Lazaros

For sure.

Kevin Palmieri

Some would say I have a really good date idea for you and Emilia. Talk to me Are you open to hearing it? I can't say it too loud because I'm going to do it for Taryn, but I haven't done it yet. Have you, and Emilia, done an adventure room yet Like an escape room?

Alan Lazaros

I think she took me to one.

Kevin Palmieri

You have no idea.

Alan Lazaros

Years ago, maybe, or was that my ex?

Kevin Palmieri

Well, let's First of all, let's hash it out here yeah, that was my ex.

Alan Lazaros

Probably a good idea. No, I don't think I've met her.

Kevin Palmieri

I feel like you guys would love it.

Alan Lazaros

There's one in Worcester that we did. I think that was. I don't think that was Emilia. No, I don't think Emilia and I have.

Kevin Palmieri

That's the play.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, I think that would be.

Kevin Palmieri

It has to be nature.

Alan Lazaros

The adventure doesn't count if it's not in nature.

Kevin Palmieri

Oh well, you're going to be using your brains. 10 out of 10 is nature. You're going to be using your brains, though.

Alan Lazaros

Well, maybe we'll do one that's near nature.

Kevin Palmieri

It's. I mean, that's like what?

Alan Lazaros

No, it's going to be Jurassic Park no.

Kevin Palmieri

No, it's inside in a dark room with a locked door.

Alan Lazaros

No I know, but if it's one that's up in New Hampshire near the mountains, it can do coffee Dude. This is a great strategy. Go a little coffee, it's going to be Jurassic.

Kevin Palmieri

We're just going to drop you in Jurassic Park. Good luck bro.

Alan Lazaros

Good luck.

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah, my question for those watching or listening is what's the one thing? What's the one thing for you and have you? Have you given it for some reason? My eyes are leaking. Have you given it the credit that it deserves? Are you actually aware of the one thing?

Alan Lazaros

why are you acting like we're getting out of here? Do you not know that we have 25 minutes? No, I I'm the host.

Kevin Palmieri

I'll do what the freak I want.

Alan Lazaros

You're like acting like we're getting at it. No, no, no, no For those of you out there, that's my question for you. That was just me. You didn't start the wrap up right there.

Kevin Palmieri

No, oh, no, no, no, no. That was my next. That was where I wanted to go. Now I got to do an entire reshoot because actor number one doesn't know his freaking lines. Extra number one doesn't know his lines. No, because I don't know. If. I mean, how many times have you and I had this conversation behind the scenes? I'm very To me. I'm very aware of what the number one thing is, very aware. But you and I, going back to last episode, also have kind of built a business out of it. So it makes total sense why it's the the number one thing. If you said, what are number two, three, four and five? I've never really thought about those. So I would have to sit down and really I don't care. I care about number. What's the number one thing?

Kevin Palmieri

yeah, you are number if number one makes up 80% of it, I don't really care what two through five are.

Alan Lazaros

Honestly, we should teach the Pareto a little bit. Okay, wilfredo.

Kevin Palmieri

Pareto. I'll let you do it. I'll let you do it.

Alan Lazaros

You got this.

Kevin Palmieri

I don't, I didn't, I learned it from you. I don't know if I ever looked. Okay, there was a gentleman named Wilfred, named Will Fredo Pareto. Shout out to Will Fredo's mom for naming him that he was a pea farmer. Okay, just planting peas, growing peas, harvesting peas all about the peas. And eventually Will Fredo, mr Pareto, himself realized that 20% of the pea plants accounted for 80% of the pea yield. So 20% of the plants provided 80% of what he was getting. And then somehow that became a law and now people live their lives by it, because some dude in a field talking to his peas, but I guess the thought now is 20% of the world's 20% of the population makes 80% of the money.

Kevin Palmieri

20% of the country in the US drinks 80% of the alcohol Stuff. Like that, 20% of the podcasts probably get 80% of the listens.

Alan Lazaros

Yes, I just don't know. 20% of the podcasts probably get 80% of the listens. Yes, I just don't know. 20% of the sports teams win 80% of the games.

Kevin Palmieri

Is there a place where I can see this? Not that I don't trust Wilfredo.

Alan Lazaros

You can see it all around you.

Kevin Palmieri

No, but like with numbers, here we go Watch this in real time.

Alan Lazaros

Listeners and viewers watch this. I'm being playful, kev. This might not work for you because you're already doing this, so I need to use someone else. Okay, your wife Taryn probably wears 20% of her clothes, 80% of the time 20%, 80% of the time, I'd say that's probably fairly accurate nice okay, I wear I wear five percent of my clothes, 95 of the time, I would say yeah, I know you're. You're doing the deeper of pareto just out of pure laziness. Yeah, I was gonna say this. There's no strategy.

Kevin Palmieri

This was not straight, I was I was like I want to wear a long sleeve shirt today. And I was like oh, I wore a long sleeve shirt two weeks ago. Where is that one? Ah, I know where it is. It's in the laundry basket. It's clean, that'll be the one simple he's a simpleton I love it.

At NLU, we want you to win! So, we're giving tools and resources to ensure your success. Join our Monthly Meet-up every first Thursday of the month at 5 PM.

Alan Lazaros

I am. Yeah, keep it, keep for sure, for sure. Keep it simple. Nlu, listener, what is happening? I just wanted to jump in here and let you know if you want to get to the next level faster. We have a free virtual monthly meetup at the first thursday of every month. You can connect with like-minded people and become a bigger part of this amazing global community. The link to register will be in the show notes. Kev, when he was in high school. What's the 20 I can do? That gives me 80% of the results. Okay, the jacked guys get the girls. I'm going to get jacked. That was it. That was the end of the formula.

Kevin Palmieri

That was it.

Alan Lazaros

End of equation.

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah, that's the 20. Get jacked, take shirt off. Most people don't mess with you because they assume you're a badass even if you're not badass. When, even if you're not, I wasn't. I was like the friendliest person other than that. That message from that facebook dude who messaged me and I said, all right, man, next time you see me we're gonna brawl. Okay cool, I'm gonna choke you unconscious. Then he's like oh, you train man, okay cool, I yeah, I was a good dude, just want to be a good person. Just want to be a good person. That's it.

Emphasizing relationships and quality time

Alan Lazaros

That's all I have to say about that so the you're doing the, so he's doing the deeper level of Pareto, and please don't get lost in the numbers, but I want to share this because this is my purpose, my poipus, if you take so everyone out there, think about Pareto. So 20 of your effort is producing 80 of the reward. So so I used to, in relationships, very unintelligently, do a bunch of effort for things that my partner didn't really value that much, and in the past, the highest value for my partners was quality time, which was a huge concern, because early entrepreneurs don't have time for quality time, and so I would try to do these other things to try to make up for the fact that I wasn't available and they never worked, and then I would basically just it would just suck and they never worked, and then I would basically just it would just suck. And so now Emilia and I have the top three cup fillers.

Alan Lazaros

So nature is by far number one. When, when she always plays, she's like thank you for taking me for a walk, it's, it's, you've got to get out in nature, got to. It's a quality time, but no stim. Quality time Like where we're just talking deep conversations. Quality time, but no stim. Quality time like where we're just talking deep conversations, spending presence with the pets. And the third one is what Adventure? She calls it spontanitis. My camera's freaking out Spontanitis is. It sounds like an illness. It's something we made up. You need spontaneity, so I'll just tell her to get in the car and then we just go for the whole day.

Kevin Palmieri

I've got cool things planned. When's the last time that?

Alan Lazaros

happened. It's been a minute, it's been a minute Q4, winter.

Kevin Palmieri

I got a little jealous when you said that because I was like shit, he's beating me on that. I haven't done that in a hot minute, it's like all right, hop in. Ah, we're at Starbucks. What do you want? What would you like?

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, spontanitis, man, it's, it's important. It is important that's the 20% of things that produce 80% of Emilia's fulfillment in our relationship. Very important to know those things, Very important. And I have my three blah, blah, blah. Okay Now, if you take the 20% of 20%, don't get lost in the numbers on this If you take 20% of 20%, you get 4%.

Kevin Palmieri

Why would you take 20% of 20%?

Alan Lazaros

You know how? Because you get leverage. I'll explain leverage, please Everyone. Picture a huge boulder. It's stuck in a hole. You put a board underneath it. Oh boy, I know.

Kevin Palmieri

Talk about the fulcrum here. Here we go.

Alan Lazaros

I've been waiting to talk about the fulcrum. Torque in the fulcrum you can. Can you explain how a crowbar works.

Kevin Palmieri

I can't do this, man.

Alan Lazaros

Straight up, you works. I can't do this, man straight up. You know I can't do this so, man, not really no.

Kevin Palmieri

Why would I be able to explain it? It's not easy. The way a crowbar is bent allows you to put more pressure on something than you would be able to without the bend.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, because of the torque. The equation in physics is the longer the radius, the way more the power. Like the work that you can do, the point is leverage. This is a good one.

Kevin Palmieri

This is a good one. Think of a. What do people do? They run up, not a.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, pole vaulting, not a jolt Pole vaulting you can't.

Kevin Palmieri

You can't pole very far with a four foot yeah exactly. But if you have a 14 foot stick and go a lot further exactly, that's actually not accurate at all, because that has nothing to do with leverage, that's just like basic no, it's longer, so you go further.

Alan Lazaros

No, it does have to do with leverage. It does a little bit. It doesn't matter. Here we're getting, we're getting off it. Okay, why would you take 20 of 20? You get four percent yeah, the ratio there is. So 20 of your effort produces 80 of the results. That's a one to four ratio, meaning you get four times the benefit for one times the effort. When you take 20 of 20, it's one fourth times one fourth, so now you get one sixteenth, does that?

Kevin Palmieri

land. It lands for me, because I've heard you say this a thousand times.

Alan Lazaros

If you could put $1 in and get $16 out.

Kevin Palmieri

that's what this is, I think we need to talk more about like okay okay, cool, cool, all right, Fitness, the 20% is weight training, Correct, correct? What's the 20% of the 20% Tracking calories? Hey Google, hey Google, turn off, please.

Alan Lazaros

Tracking calories For weight training? Yes, because the weight training doesn't get maximized unless you have the right nutrients. Okay, so if you're trying to build muscle now, this is the key okay, so you need to know your objective, your, if the objective is to build muscle, I'm going to talk about kev. If kev's objective is to build muscle, he's in a bowl right now.

Kevin Palmieri

You're in a bulk right. No, I'm in a cut all right. And the fact that you couldn't recognize it is offensive to me.

Alan Lazaros

Well, that's why you're wearing a long sleeve. All right, let's imagine he's in a bulk and he's trying to maximize muscle gain. That means that the number the 20% is weight training, consistent weight training, boom. The the 20% of 20%, which is the 4%, is being in a caloric surplus Because, let's say, he weight trains really hard but he doesn't have a caloric surplus, he's not going to build muscle, he doesn't have the building blocks to build the muscle. And the 20% of 20% of 20% in that case would be getting enough protein within those calories.

Alan Lazaros

I got you, and so the idea here is there's certain things that matter a fuck ton, and there's a few things that don't matter almost at all that matter a fuck ton, and there's a few things that don't matter almost at all. There's a lot of things that don't matter almost at all, to be honest. Yeah, and that's why the book essentialism, I think, is so powerful, because it's it's just Pareto. You and I recording this episode can impact hundreds, if not thousands, of people all over the world. That's leverage, whereas we could be I don't know taking a nap. So if impact is the goal, taking a nap isn't leverage. This podcast is. However, the nap is good for your brain, which then makes you able to do more podcasting. So everything's a formula. I think one of the reasons people don't like me seriously is because of this Everything's a formula.

Kevin Palmieri

It's always weird when you say that, because it's like do I defend you or do I agree with you?

Alan Lazaros

I think it's okay. I don't want to say yeah, I don't think people like me.

Kevin Palmieri

It's not that they don't like you. I just think people can be made to feel uncomfortable.

Alan Lazaros

I don't think it's personal. Do you think it's the formulaic thinking Like everything's a math equation for me?

Kevin Palmieri

I think it's the fact that you don't do small talk at all. I was talking to somebody today about this. They said what did they say exactly? It was something along the lines of I don't go out and see people anymore. I feel like I don't know how to talk to people anymore. I was like, yeah, no, I understand. I said when you start going on other podcasts, a ton it's going to change, because you're literally meeting strangers daily and at the beginning, depending on what it is, there's small talk and you're getting to know people and you're pitching and catching. I feel like you don't really small talk, so I think that's uncomfortable for people.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, we do sort of the where are you from, where are you hailing from? I'm in Mass, okay. I'm in Pennsylvania, oh cool. I could throw a rock and hit you jokingly and then we let's get into it. You know what it is too. I don't like wasting time, yeah, and it might feel offensive when people feel like they're wasting your time.

Kevin Palmieri

Or you make them feel like yeah, exactly. It's the priority of. Yeah, it's just that it's like if your thing is, I don't want to waste time, and the other person is thinking like I don't really care if I waste, it's not a waste of time for me to talk to you about small talk, then it's just not going to work.

Alan Lazaros

Yeah, and it makes them feel less important, I think, and that's unfortunate. That's not my goal, of course, but at the end of the day, I realize that the more you learn what matters to you self-awareness back to Kevin's answer to this question the less you want to waste time on things that are not meaningful. I want to have the most meaningful life possible and I think the more narrow you get in your where you invest your time and effort, I think, the bigger impact you can actually have. It's fascinating, it's it's when you split the atom, you get the atom bomb that metaphor. The more narrow my focus has become, the more impact I've been able to have in the world, and that's ultimately what I'm going for is maximizing growth, contribution and quality of life, and I think that when you do that, people can feel offended, like people in my gym that want to. There's this one guy who is awesome. I mean he the pump cover guy.

Kevin Palmieri

He's like take off the pump, cover man he's like he's just a cheerleader.

Alan Lazaros

I love it, he's, he's all about it, but he's always bidding for my attention. It's like, dude, I can't right now, like I appreciate you, but I'm focused like hat down. You know, I don't want to be disrespectful, but also like I can't. I'm sorry, I can't, I'm not here for that. I'm 45 minutes a day, every day, like I need to go home, right, like desperately. This is terrible. So I can see, I can see why that is. But, um, I wonder too, and this is a question for you I wonder too, and this is a question for you how did you think before you thought in formulas? How did you figure out what to do?

Kevin Palmieri

and what not to do. I think the only things I really figured out were the things that I got lucky with and then figured out what was under the luck list. I experimented a lot back in again. Fitness is always the best example for me, because that was really the only thing I ever really feel like I did. Now again, my father took steroids, so that helps, right. I've never taken steroids, but my father did, so I feel like there's probably going to be some of them in me somewhere. I don't know if that's how it works. I don't know.

Alan Lazaros

Naturally high test levels.

Kevin Palmieri

I guess, I guess, guess, I don't know if that's because he took steroids, but maybe I mean I would guess on it it would make sense. But that's like the one thing where I remember I kind of decided I'm going to get in really good shape. And then it was. I used to read magazines, I used to try a bunch of different stuff. The 5x5, you do five reps of weight. You can handle five times for five sets.

Alan Lazaros

Like, do that. And the big five, which is lat pulldowns, squats, deadlifts. Bench press, Bench press and then overhead press. Yeah, Between those five you basically hit every muscle in the human body.

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah, other.

Alan Lazaros

than core, but you still hit core and squats and all that that.

Kevin Palmieri

I did that.

Kevin Palmieri

Five by five is good stuff, five by five, was good stuff. I just tried a bunch of stuff. I was on bodybuilding forums all the time trying to figure out how to learn about bodybuilding and how to get stronger, and then it eventually became this is what works best for me and I still train essentially the same exact way I did when I was 16. Smarter, but I do a lot of the same. I don't overcomplicate it. I do the same shit almost every time. That works for me.

Kevin Palmieri

Maybe it doesn't work the same for you, but it came from me seeming like I got lucky with certain things and then saying, all right, let me double down on what this, what seems like it worked. And then I started testing different versions of that, so kind of what you're saying it's. I started I figured out by luck what the 20% was. That got me 80% of the results, and then I then I tinkered with the 20% and then that was pretty much. That was kind of the way I did it. Outside of of that, I didn't really feel like I was in control of anything.

Alan Lazaros

One of the reasons kev gets so frustrated with the fitness industry is because they're not telling you the, the 20 that actually did it, which is the fact that they're on steroids.

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah, name somebody in hollywood. They most uh this again. Allegedly they most likely have taken steroids.

Alan Lazaros

Well, they're basically and this is what we've done episodes on in the past, and I'll go quick with this but Kev would say hey, I'm going to sell you a course on the three quick steps to super boost your business into the multi-million dollar, blah, blah, blah. What they're not telling you is the 20% of 20%, of 20% of 20% that they did, which is basically lie, like oh, I forgot to tell you that in order to actually do this.

Kevin Palmieri

You have to lie and scam people.

Kevin Palmieri

Sell out or a small investment from a family member it's like well you know I was a millionaire long before this because I was in the family business, but this is also how you could. And just to edit what I said business, but this is also how you could. And just just to edit what I said most many people in the like action I'm not going to name names, but you go from playing like a high school teacher to, I don't know, captain america and you look completely different. I'm not saying that's the only way, but that is. The Rock is 55 years old, right, isn't he like 55 years old?

Why small changes lead to big results

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah man, what are we doing here? It's just what are we doing here?

Alan Lazaros

You think it's just hard work.

Kevin Palmieri

Yeah, I think he works very, very, very hard. Yeah, and that's part of the equation. For sure, it's a big part of the equation. It is, but it's not the whole equation.

Alan Lazaros

So back to the original point of this episode, because I know we do got to jump soon is what's the one thing that, if you took it out, 90% of your results go, and this is the last thing that I hope lands? There's a book I'm reading called Measure what Matters that I hope lands. There's a book I'm reading called Measure what Matters. Damn. I never know the author's names. I got you man, I got you Measure what Matters. It's one of the original investors at Google, which apparently is 28 years ago.

Alan Lazaros

I think, and they did something called OKRs and I playfully called them OK Does, but objectives and key results. The reason why this Pareto principle is so powerful is because it creates leverage the same amount of time and effort, and this is like, think about it Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. How is it that an Oprah Winfrey has way more impact than Kev? Right, she's using her time and effort much more wisely for much longer than kev was, and again, I'm just using that as some random person, but kev is capable of that too. To some extent he's different. Blah, blah, blah, but like for the most part, okay. Here's the problem, kev if you don't know the specific objective, the 20% of 20% of 20% of 20% of 20% changes completely. So if your goal is to cut right now instead of to build muscle, let's say your objective is to maximize muscle loss I'm sorry, maximize fat loss. Maximize fat loss, everything changes, the whole formula changes.

Alan Lazaros

So the number one thing, in my opinion, for everyone out there and this is what my coaching does is clarity. If you don't have clarity on what you want, you cannot gain leverage. I want to be with Emilia, I want to marry Emilia, I want to be in love with Emilia. Okay, now I can leverage all the things that she values and I value every single day to make sure that that objective is consistently and sustainably attained, and that's in the context of love. Okay, now health. Okay, I care about physique and holistic athletics. Okay, you can do a formula, but you can't do the formula.

Alan Lazaros

That's why I can't stand the quote. It's the journey, not the destination. Listen, the destination you choose in advance dictates the journey. If you want to be in the mlb, you better change everything right now to make sure that that actually happens. If you want to be a podcaster, immediately, you have to change everything. I think my coaching comes down to inject clarity and certainty, then messy, massive action in between sessions, and then you get momentum and results and then you come back for more clarity. And that's all I'm really doing is injecting clarity every single session and, ironically, through a lot of uncertainty during the session of like who's what and what's what and what you know. So that's what this podcast does for everybody, I think, is we just keep giving people clarity and unfortunately, it's through the messy uncertainty well, oftentimes the clarity comes from questioning everything if you get off an episode where yeah, yeah.

Kevin Palmieri

Well, I'm just saying, if you're watching or listening and you get off an episode, it's like what the hell were they even talking about? If that's it, I don't know if anything's going to come from it, but if you sit with it for a while, something will come eventually. It's just a matter of sifting through it. John Dewar is the gentleman's name. Alright, next Level Nation.

Outro

Kevin Palmieri

As you heard, alan is taking new clients as we speak. So if you're looking for a strategy behind health, wealth, life and love, you want to make more money. I feel like most people want to make more money. Alan can definitely help you with that. Dreamliners are on Amazon. What else? Next Level Nation private Facebook group for amazing humans like you, filled with amazing humans like you, and make sure you're subscribed on whatever platform you are listening or watching this on, so you never miss an opportunity to get to the next level. As always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you. And at NLU, we do not have fans, we have family. Nlu, we do not have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.

Alan Lazaros

Stay next level Next level nation.

Kevin Palmieri

Thanks for joining us for another episode of Next Level University. We love connecting with the Next.

Alan Lazaros

Level family. We mean it when we say family. If you ever need anything, please reach out to us directly. Everything you need to get a hold of us is in the show notes.

Kevin Palmieri

Thank you again and we will talk to you tomorrow.

Head Shot

Alan Lazaros

Host
Head Shot

Kevin Palmieri

Host